OXFORD, Miss. – After years of writing critically acclaimed
scholarly publications, University of Mississippi faculty
member Ajit Sadana says his latest effort has to be his
proudest literary accomplishment to date.
The professor of chemical engineering has co-authored the
textbook “Fractal Analysis of the Binding and Dissociation
Kinetics for Different Analytes on Biosensor Surfaces” with
his eldest daughter, Neeti, a post-graduate (year three)
anesthesiology resident at Jackson Memorial Hospital
associated with the University of Miami Miller School of
Medicine. The book is to be released in January 2008 by
Elsevier, publisher of health science books and journals.
“It was always a dream of mine that Neeti and I would one
day work together on a research project,” Sadana said. “I
first approached her with the idea two years ago. She had
to find the time in her busy schedule to do the writing,
but eventually she got on board.”
Their resulting book is the fifth in a series that the
professor has written over more than a decade based on his
kinetic studies on biosensor surfaces, intended to advance
the detection of diabetes mellitus, arthritis and systemic
lupus erythematosus.
“I actually wrote the foreword to my father’s previous
book,” said Dr. Neeti Sadana. “We thought that it would be
fun to give me an even bigger role in this one.”
Autoimmune diseases such as cancer, systemic lupus
erythomatosus, arthritis and diabetes mellitus, and
cardiac-related illnesses can hopefully be alleviated and
better managed by using biosensors for early detection of
their precursors.
The authors noted that while biosensor applications in
health care are not new, very few people are involved with
the kinetic aspect of their development.
Sadana added that his chemical engineering approach to
health care-related biosensors has generated criticism from
some in the medical profession who seem to feel that he is
out of his element.
“This is why I wanted the introductory chapter of this
book, which is general in scope, to be written by Neeti
because she is a medical doctor and has expertise in the
biomedical field,” Sadana said. “Her writing sets the tone
for the rest of the book, which I wrote. Although her
chapter opens the book and is very clear and concise, it
actually was the last one to be written.”
Dr. Sadana said she and her father enjoyed writing
together.
“Most of the communication was e-mails and phone calls, but
I come home to Mississippi fairly frequently, so we had
multiple talks at Starbucks,” she said. “It was really
great to have medical and philosophical discussions with
him. He got to interact with me as a colleague and not just
as his kid.”
The Sadanas plan to follow up their debut book with a
1,200-page handbook, expected to be released in 2010.
“This is cutting-edge stuff,” Dr. Sadana said. “Anything
that can contribute to the diagnosis and treatment of
patients that is cost-effective and quick is beneficial to
the entire health care industry.”
Sadana said that although he found the professional
partnership with his daughter personally rewarding, he
doesn’t necessarily foresee it becoming a lasting union.
“I don’t know whether Neeti will even warm to the idea of
writing scholarly research articles on her own on a regular
basis or not,” he said. “She stays so busy practicing
medicine. But even if she doesn’t pursue writing as part of
her career path, what she has published to date will always
be a nice thing to have on her resume and something for me
to cherish.”